[seems like there's a hole, in my dreams] :: Amscray practice last night was the best it's been in, well, probably six months or so. We've got three new songs basically done except for fine tuning and the additional guitar, and we listened to some new rough mixes of the new record which sounded amazing. So yeah, happiness all around, and I caught the next to last subway back under the bay and got in late (again), so I'm pretty tired this morning.

Then on the drive to work in the rain, my car horn just started going off in one loud continuous drone. I frantically searched for the fuse and couldn't find one, but luckily when I looked up I was only a block away from my super-reliable mechanic. So I pulled up out front and a guy came out and disconnected the fuse, but then told me that the same fuse was tied in to the brake lights. So, here I am driving around West Berkeley with no brake lights in the pouring rain at 8:00 in the morning.

The coffee when I got into work tasted divine, and I'm hoping that despite the car problems and the continuous lack of sleep (the kitties didn't help either, fighting half the night and dragging me out of bed to shake their food dish), today will go well.

[it's not off to be what we are, as long as we're royalty] :: Damn, just thinking about Oldham playing "A King At Night" at the show yesterday is enough to give me goosebumps. We had a fine evening, drinking wine and chatting between opening bands until Oldham strapped on his tiny guitar, took off his stocking cap, and wowed a room full of hushed fans until 1:00 AM. The ticket price was high, but I think part of the strategy was to make it so that only fans would come to the quiet, solo show in order to keep chatting noise to a minimum. As the evening wound down, people started swaying to the songs, singing along with the acapella version of "Madeline Mary," and a couple of scenester kids began making out in the back of the room, gripping their newly purchased 45's behind each other's heads. It was a fine performance, and Will was a gracious performer, filling requests, laughing with the crowd, and looking like he was having a very fine time.

We came out into the rain and I carefully piloted the car back over the Bay Bridge, fighting to stay in my lane as the wind moved the car around on the wet roadway. Welcome to winter.

P.S.: bellmas.org is back.

will "the beard" oldham.

[(instrumental)] :: We're going to see Bonnie 'Prince' Billy tonight over in the city. His three tour dates are San Francisco, London, and Istanbul. He's a very strange man. I realize that the actual concert listing says "Bonnie 'Prince' Billy Solo," and today I had the horrible realization that it could, in fact, be like the drummer from BPB playing live. Hopefully I'm wrong and Mr. Oldham will actually be in effect.

There are three opening bands, and I could not find anything at all listed about them anywhere online. Hmmm.

There's this huge ass storm coming in tonight and tomorrow, it will be our first rain in months, which is good, but it's also proof that the Fall season is actually here.

It's your job to watch Spoon on Conan O'Brien tonight. I'll miss it since I'll be at the show.

[democracy is wicked awesome] :: I voted tonight. Actually, I walked down to my polling place and then stood in a long ass line before I reached out and touched the future: computerized ballots. The things make me nervous actually, because what would happen if, say, the poll worker falls down the stairs hurling the computer into the street. How do you recount a database? Tonight was my first time using the little touchscreens, and although all went well and it was extremely easy, not having that little pen with which to punch my ballot left me feeling a bit empty.

I don't know why, but I've always liked voting. I've cast a ballot in every election since the day I turned 18, and even drove back to my hometown once to participate in a runoff for the school board (my dentist was running, it was my duty). The credit card company and my student loans can take all my money, my landlord can watch as the house falls apart, and I can get a speeding ticket from a cop I never even saw coming, but nobody can stop me from voting.

[cause we've got our recruits and our green mohair suits] :: Saturday night we threw a birthday party at our house, and it ended up being a lot bigger than I thought. We had good times though, talking with a million people and drinking a million beers while I tried to keep the cats from attacking people's costumes (yes, there were costumes, I was a sailor). The evening culminated in me playing DJ at 1:30 A.M., sprinning selections from a big red box of 45's from the Eighties that we got at the flea market, including the bombastic "China" by The Red Rockers. Damn, that's a pretty good song, in a Flock Of Seagulls kind of way.

Yesterday we ate breakfast at a new (good) breakfast place, and went to the flea market where we picked up a new cheap living room table to replace our old cheap living room table. I also got a stack of old postcards to send to friends to try and trick them that I'm actually living in Fiji during the 1970's. We finished up the day curled up on the couch watching Dolly Parton act up a spunky storm in 9 to 5, content that all was nice on the Western front.

But really the big news is that I finally, FINALLY made it so you can purchase prints of The Daily Photo. I'll put up a page with some of my favorites in the next couple of days, but until then you can just keep hitting the "yesterday" button to scroll backwards. If you're one of the first few people to order prints, I'll throw in a CD or two to keep you happy.

I still owe a bunch of people CDs for contributing to the Moncton Albums Project, but the good news is that I finally finished my Songs For Rural Driving mix, which kicks serious slide/pedal steel guitar ass. You'll be getting one in the mail soon.

Which brings me to my next mix: Handclaps and Finger Snaps, in which all of the songs will feature either rhythmic handclapping, or good-natured finger snapping. If you want a copy, email me a song contribution. I already have enough Spoon and Belle & Sebastian tracks though, so you'll have to be more creative than that!